Man's World

Rupert Smith

Average Rating 7/10 1 Review)

Man's World is a story of gay life now, and gay life 50 years ago.

London today - a world of sex, drugs and designer clothes, where Robert searches for fulfilment in gay clubs. London 50 years ago - Michael enters a secret queer underworld, negotiating the dangers of law and the closet.

Two parallel narratives - two generations - two worlds that barely recognise each other. But do Robert and Michael have more in common than they think? A historical romance with a difference, Man's World is a funny, sexy and moving story about friendship and desire, about how much the world has changed - and how little.

Man's World won the Stonewall Award for Writer of the Year 2010, and was shortlisted for the inaugural Green Carnation Prize.

'A funny, poignant and ultimately life-affirming novel about the fractures and continuities in gay male life.'

Review by Ieva Marscionkaite (310112) Rating (7/10)

Review by Ieva Marscionkaite
Rating 7/10
As my hand reaches for the book that promises to exclude women, I cannot help myself but wonder whether it can be of any interest to female readers. Already No. 1 Amazon Gay Bestseller, Top Gay Seller at Foyles and Inaugural Green Carnation Award shortlist, Man's World seems to offer very little to women.

'Funny, dirty, deeply romantic', intrigues Jake Arnott's comment on the cover of the book. As the story of two gay men unfolds, this historical romance does live up to our expectations.

Smith's novel engages us in the lives of two gay men:
London today: a world of drugs, sex and designer clubs, where Robert searches for fulfilment in gay clubs. London 50 years ago: Michael's secret diary records the experiences of living in a society where any sign of queerness is condemned.

Supported by the Arts Council of England, Man's World is a very well-researched novel. The 1950s world that it depicts comes across as very authentic and believable.

Yes, it is dirty. And yes, it is full of sex scenes. Yet this novel is also much more than that. It is educational to say the least. When the characters reveal the pain they are forced to live with every day, one realises that the themes explored in this story are universal:

'They can't keep us down forever. One day we'll be able to live free and open.'

'Laws that forbid our very existence.'

It is such a great story because it is about every one of us: it explores the problem of not fitting in, the fear of being disliked by others, the challenge of being oneself.
Ieva Marscionkaite (31st January 2012)